Feeling almost a little nostalgic. This is the last "Wine of the Week" before Labor Day. Already I can see the winds changing, blowing white wines aside for the next round of reds to become the new "norm." Boy, that sounds almost poetic, and I said it!

As it was with the last tasting I poured. Five wines and in this particular case, all were red wines. Not a spot of white showing on my table. There were at other tables, but not mine.

While not choosing this weeks wine because of that, it is still rather fitting. One last hurrah! (Never fear! Given my proclivity to wines in general, this won't be my last white for a while).

This weeks wine was also the case of choosing the wine and then plan the dinner. Since I'm not a Fruitarian or Vegetarian, not even a Pescetarian and I don't subscribe to any specific diet regime, like Paleo or Adkins or whatever the newest trend is, I'm pretty wide open to eating just about anything. I do have to say though that I do eat a good bit of organic foods, when I can, and try to select fish and meats that meet certain standards. Some facts you probably didn't know or care to, I'm thinking.

So let's move on.....

Wandering through another issue of Wine Spectator I came across a wine I haven't had in possibly decades. The grape more recent, but the wine, nope. It struck me as it was showing an excellent review, gaining 91 Points and a "Best Value" designation from the publication. Further checking revealed that the wine was available for only $11.99 at my local establishment. Oh, how I love good wines at an even better price.

Bodegas Naia Verdejo 2017

Coming from the Rueda area of Spain where the grape dominates and where the grape is grown almost to exclusivity and mainly within a couple distinct styles. It should be noted that this isn't the same grape as Verdelho from Portugal.

Bodegas Naia uses Verdejo almost exclusively. It does have a small lot of Sauvignon Blanc and produces a couple wines of either 100% or a blend. While this wine doesn't see any oak maturation, they do have a wine that is aged in French Oak barrels.

I really liked this wine for its structure and creaminess. I felt that the acidity of the wine was kept a little more in check, as opposed to say, Sauvignon Blanc. With the wine spending 4 months on its lees (another way of saying it stays in contact with dead and residual yeast cells), the wine develops more of a substantive body and richness.

Starting with a floral and almost honeyed aroma with an absolute mineral edge, the wine transforms into nice citrus notes and sleek minerality on the palate. As mentioned earlier, the acidity is nice but kept in check and makes for a pleasant finish with that slight creaminess.

Lots of different foods will work with this wine. Knowing all too well that Summer is almost at its end, I hesitate to say, but will anyway, that this is a great wine for the patio and light appetizers. Since I drink both res and whites year round, I know this will be on my list of favorites.